Scratching is Okay...arm & nails

I think it's amazing how much sleep can heal the body.

For the first time in months that seemed like forever, I am getting more than 2 hours of sleep at at a time!!  And when I wake up, I can really see a difference in my skin.  The swelling goes down, bumps are hardly there, and skin is smooth and repaired from previous scratching!!  Hurray!

My skin is stronger and thicker, which means I don't break the skin (too much) when I scratch lightly.

Me and my skin are having a pretty good relationship right now.

At this stage of a flare-up ending, I think scratching is okay as long as it doesn't break the new forming skin.  I find that when I scratch lightly, I exfoliate a lot of the dead skin that has piled on my skin.  After a good, light scratch, my skin irritates me no more...it is not itchy, has more movement, feels lighter, feels like it can breath, and mentally the stress in my mind is relieved.

Arm is still red but it is smoother and skin is not too broken anymore!  It's impossible to see in the picture and also because I moisturized, but above the redness, there are many small dead skin flakes.  You can also tell that I cut my nails REALLY short.  A friend who works at a nail salon said I shouldn't do that, because it damages the nails...but I don't care!!  I've tried coping with itchy skin when my nails are grown out (still short, but not extremely short like right now) and it just doesn't work for me.  Every morning I'd wake up bloody and in pain because of how much I unconsciously scratched myself...even through coton gloves...so I chose to keep my nails very, very, damagingly short.  The pro of this is even if I have a scratch fest...I don't do much damage.  The con of this is that I have gotten nail bed infections...they are painful!

Positive thought of the day:  I've been saving a lot of money since I don't go out to eat, don't go out for drinks, haven't gone shopping, don't buy gas for car, and don't buy beauty products like make-up & hair-stuff.  I think this means I am qualified to go on a shopping-spree once this is over!!

My Bath Routine

I thought it would be good to write about what my current bath routine is!!

It changes all the time, but this is what works for me right now, as my flare-up is ending.

So I take baths...as opposed to showers...because it hurts when the water hits my skin, and also I don't like standing - there are cracks behind my knees that make it painful to stretch out without applying oil.  Showers are pretty painful.

I fill my tub with warm water...NOT HOT!!  Never hot...there was a time when I loved taking hot showers and hot baths because it really soothed my itchy skin, but I noticed that it REALLY made my skin worse.  It just feels nice...the heat kind of itches my skin for me.

Sometimes I sit in the tub as the water fills up...but that's when I'm having an itch fest and I can't wait to get in the tub.

I add:
~2 cups of epsom salt
~1 handful of sea salt
~random amount of organic extra virgin olive oil (maybe around 1/2 cup)

Recently, I don't use any epsom salt or sea salt because my skin is a lot better, and I didn't notice a difference when I added the salt and didn't.  It does make a different when I'm flaring though.  I do however, always add the oil.

My baths can be around an hour...but they can also be extremely loooooong...we are talking 6+ hours...I even sleep in them at times.  It's the only time I am comfortable and can relax.

What do I do in the tub?

-Eat dinner!  When my face is wet, it is the only time I can open my mouth wide enough to eat properly.  That means no more cutting up food in tiny minuscule flat pieces = annoying.

-Brush my teeth!  Again, being able to open my mouth properly means I can brush my teeth thoroughly.  I bring a cup, floss, and toothbrush and put it at the side of the tub...thankfully my tub is surrounded by the shower area so I can just bend over and spit outside haha.

-Wash my hair!  I am a girly girl and I do have long hair...which I personally think is easier to hand than short hair...I will do another post about it.  So since my tub is surrounded by the shower area, I bend over the tub with head upside down, bring the shower handle to my head, and wash my hair while half my body is still in the tub.

-Wash my face!  I never wash my face in the tub...because any water that is less than icy cold just makes my face itchy.  So from time to time I use the shower handle to wash my face with cold water, then put coconut oil right after.

-Stretch!  Since it's the only time I can pretty much move in all directions without being in pain, I take this time to do some stretching.  It's also good to stretch out your skin, so when it heals, it doesn't heal tightly.

-Exfoliate!  I never exfoliate when I am having a flare-up, but towards the end, there is just so much skin that piles on...I feel like it suffocates my skin.  Skin needs to breathe too!  I rub it off gently, and never peel anything off.  If it is not coming off...just leave it.

-Listen to music & sing!  I bring my iPod that is double bagged in 2 Ziploc pouches = my entertainment in the tub!  I am a singer, and with RSS I haven't been able to sing because the skin on my face is so tight so I can't move my mouth or face muscles.  The only chance I can to exercise my vocal chords is in the tub!  iPods/iPads are fun in the tub...especially if you have wifi!

Let me know what your bath/shower routine is!

Positive thought of the day:  At least I have a bath tub right?  Many of my friends only have a shower.  I don't know what I would do in a house deprived of a bath tub.

Sunlight

I am really sensitive to sunlight at the moment.  Especially my face and neck.

I can feel it hit my face and it makes me hot, prickly, and itchy.

Sometimes I even feel this way about the light indoors...I don't know if it is psychological or if it actually irritates my skin.  I turn off the lights everywhere I am in the house...I am like a vampire!!

This is my arm today, a little scratched.  It is more red in real life because I used 'flash' to get a good picture.  Got a lot better...skin is smoother and not broken (except places I scratched) anymore!!  My body basically looks the same as this...some parts worse, some better...they are covered in bumpy red dots!  Sometimes the bumps go down, sometimes they rise up.  They are usually down unless I scratch it, or if my bath is too hot (never take hot baths!!).  After this stage it usually goes dry and flaky...so I'm excited about that!  I don't mind when my skin is dry and flaky...it's better than juicy and bumpy!

The worst feeling I am having right now is that I feel prickly all over!!  I read somewhere that it is a sign the capillaries are mending...hurray!  I'm not sure if this theory is correct though.  Actually, When the room temperature changes around, for example, if I enter another room that is a different temperature, the air hits my skin and everything gets so prickly and uncomfortable.  So maybe it is an external prickliness (skin) instead of internal (capillaries)?  Not sure!!  But it is a different stage...which means I am closer to healing :)  Still very annoying though...you can read my post on what I wear right now, which helps a lot with the prickliness since I don't like wearing clothes right now.

Positive thought of the day:  Me being healthy has caused my family, friends...all my loved ones...to care about their health too!!!  That makes me happy.

Believe.

Most of us have never met anyone while they were going through Red Skin Syndrome, and continued seeing them until they healed.  So even though we know that we will heal from photos and articles, it is a human-thing to still be skeptical and question whether or not there is really a light at the end of this dark tunnel.

This dark, itchy, flaming, flaking, annoying tunnel.

I mean I know one girl who has healed from RSS (talked about her in my meditation post), but I only met her after she healed.  I've seen pictures of her horrible horrible skin during the RSS stage, but it could have been photoshopped.  Plus she said she healed in 6 months...how do I know she actually healed in 6 months?  I don't, and I never will.  Is it possible all her facts are untrue?  Yes.  

In fact, anything we read about RSS could be untrue.  Let's say this girl I know lied and actually healed in 6 years, but she told me 6 months...or worse...she never had RSS!!!  So what if she lied?  Are you going to stop moisturizing, stop eating healthy, or even resort to steroids again.  Of course not, and you know it!  There's no time to be skeptical and spend time trying to find out if facts are true or not...because once you find out they are true...you'll start to try and find out how true they are.  It's a never-ending road to stressful thinking.  So just take that lie, and believe in it!!!

Believing in something is a choice you make, not because it is a fact.  You don't 'believe' that chickens lay eggs, or that tomatoes have seeds.  You 'believe' in things that are arguable, like being allergic to kiwi, or that beans make people fart and are good for the heart...and that is a choice!  Really truly believe your choice 100%.  We chose to stop using steroids, and we chose to heal naturally...we WILL HEAL!!!

Keep your mind happy & positive...your body will follow eventually.

Positive thought of the day:  When you think about giving up, remind yourself of why you started!

MONSTER pimples

I've been having these MONSTER pimples recently.

They are humongous and scary.

Ready?

SO HUGE RIGHT.  That is my knee.  It basically took over my knee.

This is the first stage of these monster pimples...it starts out with a small white/green dot in the middle of a big, red, swollen circle.

Then the big, red, swollen circle closes in and gets smaller, as the white/green dot gets bigger.

Now I don't pop them or irritate them or anything, and usually it goes away within a week.

UNLESS I SCRATCH IT BY MISTAKE!!!  Then it becomes a whole new story.  I'm not going to post pictures unless someone asks me to...because it's pretty gross...but basically it becomes this huge, red, hard lump and throbs in pain for two or three days.  Green stuff oozes out of it, and it smells really bad. Like gasoline or something.

When the green stuff is gone, there is a deep crater left.  Like a huge and deep pore.

I have them all over my body, including my scalp.  I noticed that they only come out on the areas that I scratch...which means it is probably from an external source, like infected hair follicles, bacteria from nails etc, rather than something under the skin trying to surface.  I also noticed that they come out at the end of a flare-up, and when comes out, it usually means many are going to follow.

What's interesting is that when these monster pimples, whether they have or have not been scratched...start to heal, it is so itchy.  Why does everything end up in an itchy?  It's like my skin is destined to be itchy no matter what the problem is!!

Positive though of the day: I've been relaxing and catching up on a lot of TV shows I never had time to watch before I started my healing journey.  Yes it is true that I would rather go out and have fun outside than stay at home and stream videos, but I honestly am having fun watching them!! 

Meditation

Just wanted to briefly write about what I am doing to help my healing process.

I know some of you guys are changing your diet, taking supplements, making creams...etc.

I have changed my diet a tiny bit, but mainly I chose meditation.

I spend 1.5 hours in the morning, 1 hour in the afternoon, and 1-2 hours at night meditating.  They are different types of meditation though.

I'm not going to write what kind of meditation I practice.  I mean I really want to, but the reason is because the type of meditation I practice, I learnt from a master of this meditation and I spent a significant time in perfecting my learning.  Apparently it must be learnt correctly, otherwise it can have damaging consequences, especially to the mind.  If you are interested though, you can E-mail or message me about it and I will be more than happy to share what I do.  I cannot teach it to you, but I can introduce it, and perhaps you will be able to find your way to learn it correctly.

I truly believe that diseases are an obstruction in the mind.  

Some may say that this is not true, because it is the steroid that destroyed my skin, and Red Skin Syndrome is not a disease.  In a way this is true, but then I think back...why did I start to use steroids?  Because I had skin problems.  Why did I begin to have skin problems?  The way I see it, it is because something in my mind was not balanced.  If nothing in my mind has changed from when I first developed my eczema before I used steroids, to after I stopped using steroids, it is probably still going to be there even if the steroid-damaged skin is healed.  I trust that my body can repair the damaged skin, but I need to work on my mind to heal the underlying problem.

So far meditation has been rewarding.  I know one girl who had severe eczema, used steroids for 35 years, stopped, and then had Red Skin Syndrome.  She healed in 6 months from the day she started meditating.  Not only did her RSS & eczema heal, she's healed a lot of her other health problems too.  She even has many pet cats now, which is amazing because she was extremely allergic to cats all her life before she started meditation.  I checked in with her a few weeks ago...we had lunch and discussed my experiences and symtoms while practicing meditation, and we've had many similarities.  Hopefully that means I am on the right track...that gives me so much hope!!!!!!

Positive thought of the day: Everything happens for a reason.  I know it's hard, but think of all the positive things this horrible skin problem has brought you.  There will be a handful...guaranteed!  For me, here are some.  I am closer than ever to my family.  My busy lifestyle has calmed down.  I will probably forever see health as a number one priority where it should be (before I never even thought about health).  Before, I never shared any of my problems to my friends, but now I open up more.  I discovered that I am musically talented.  I am more compassionate towards others.  I don't worry about myself physically...seriously...before I would spend a lot of time being girly...experimenting with make-up and doing my eyebrows, nails etc...now it's like...I don't even think about that hah.  I've figured out who the important people are in my life.  THERE IS JUST SO MUCH MORE!!!

Scratching feel SO GOOD...

Looking less like a lobster these days.  

But to start with, I was never as red as some of you guys out there.  I really have so much respect for all you skin friends out there who made the choice to stop using steroids.  It's a really tough choice to make.  Anyone could just be like yolo and go ahead with it, but to make a conscious choice to go through this HORRIBLE annoying episode because it's the right thing to do...is just...amazing.  I want to throw a party for each and every one of you for making the best decision of your life.  

How about we all have a party when this is over?

When I wake up, my skin is not so red, but there is so much crust and dead skin!!  Skin on face is starting to leak less...and crust more!  In reality, skin is more red than in the picture, but nevertheless less red than before!  The dry skin piling on makes it constantly itchy though...I am constantly running to the freezer for an ice-pack to prevent myself from having an uncontrollable scratch fest.  I think scratching is okay as long as you don't damage the new skin underneath...but once I start...I CAN'T STOP!!  I also only wash my face with ice-cold water & olive oil.  I know that under all this crust and dead skin...my new skin is forming...and I don't want to damage it.  Under the skin, I can tell there are still those itchy juicy bumps...it's just hidden under the layers.  SO ITCHY!!!

Overall, I am getting less red, and my skin is getting stronger/flaking more.  Perhaps that marks the end of this flare??

Man, sometimes I feel bad for whoever is reading this.  Some of these pictures I post are kind of gross.  But I post them because I would want to see...

Positive thought of the day:  Sometimes when I am scratching myself, it feels so good.  It feels so good to the point that I am glad I have an itch, just so I can feel the satisfaction of scratching it.  Does that sound weird?  Probably.

What I am using Now & Before: Coconut Oil & Past Moisturizers

I am currently using Coconut Oil as an all-body & face moisturizer.  The brand I use is Nutiva!

It is organic, unrefined, not deodorized/bleached, and made without pesticides or hexane.  I don't know what hexane is, but I assume it is something you don't want in your coconut oil haha.  I don't use it to cook, although I know some people do ingest it in spoonful for skin.

I know that some of you guys don't put any moisturizer at all because it just further irritates your skin.  For me, I could NEVER leave my skin without moisturizing.  I wouldn't be able to move, will bleed through my skin, and would be in so much pain.  I don't know how you guys do it...big hugs.

Past Moisturizers & Notes...university style!

Vaseline 

- Works for me when my skin is so cracked that it is painful to move, and oil just doesn't cut it.

- I put a moisturizer first (oil/cream) and then put the Vaseline over it as a seal.  This is because I find that instead of moisturizing, Vaseline just seals whatever is under it, so it is difficult to use throughout the day unless I take baths to hydrate my skin again.

-Vaseline also makes my skin hot at times...when my skin is at the Red Juicy Flare-up stage...it just irritates my skin and makes it hot and itchy.

- I hate how sticky it gets...kind of uncomfortable to dress after application.

- Make sure to use the fragrance-free kind.

Emu Oil 

- Works for me at any stage really...

- I find that it reduces redness.  It is supposed to be anti-inflammatory and help blood circulation.

- A very light oil...not as greasy as I thought it would be.  Easy to re-apply throughout the day as it doesn't build up.

- Doesn't sting on open woulds - painless for damaged skin.

- Consistency stays a liquid, so it is difficult to carry around as it tends to leak out of containers and get everywhere.  Refrigerated, it becomes thicker and easier to handle.

- Supposed to be fragrance-free, but every brand I've used has had a light poultry-smell.

- It is said to help the skin if ingested, but I've never done this.

- One of my favourite moisturizer.  The reason why I choose coconut oil over emu oil is because emu oil is expensive and difficult to find, and I prefer the solid consistency of coconut oil.  I also prefer smelling like a tropical goddess over raw chicken.

Shea Butter

- Good barrier moisturizer.  I use it on my hands and elbows/knees.

- Difficult to scoop out or spread...it is pretty much a hard-solid unless you really rub it out onto warm skin.

- Doesn't work for me while I'm having a flare-up...it is too hard to spread on broken skin.

- Cannot reapply throughout the day as it builds up very quickly.

- Although it is fragrance-free, it does have a funky smell to it.  I don't mind it though, it smells natural.

Olive Oil

- I love using olive oil in my bath.

- Works as a body soap and make-up remover.

- I don't use it as a moisturizer because I find that it is too thick and oily.  I also smell like a salad when I do.

- Occasionally irritates my skin and makes it itchy...especially if used on open wounds.  Maybe I am slightly allergic.

Cetaphil Lotions

- These lotions are not hydrating at all on damaged skin...they dry out quickly.  Also stings on open wounds.  Maybe it's the alcohol ingredient.

- Works well on un-damaged skin...like my calf area.

- The Restoraderm line stings...like a lot.  More than the regular line.

Cetaphil Barrier Cream

- Keeps moisture in very well, for a long time.

- Thick and difficult to apply.  Works very well on my hands...I used this cream during the time that my hands healed significantly.

- Works for me when I have elephant-skin, even if I don't moisturize under it (since it's a barrier cream).  You can really see a difference.

- Doesn't sting on open wounds.

- Contains Shea Butter.

- Builds up very easily.

Eucerin Original Moisturizing Creme

- Works for me during those painful flare-ups where the skin becomes cracked and it is painful to move...as it doesn't sting on broken skin.

- It is really thick, the consistency is between regular cream and Vaseline.

- Difficult to spread, like Vaseline.  Especially when skin is flaky.

- Lasts a long time.

Kenkay Skin Relief

- Favourite cream.

- Works for me after the red hot stage of a flare-up, when the skin is a little less calm

- Very easy to spread...soft.  Absorbs pretty well into the skin, so it doesn't build up as fast.

- Doesn't sting on open wounds.

- I prefer the lotions over the creams (pumps over tubs) because it is not as thick.  It also has one less ingredient than the creams...so I figured that is one less ingredient to potentially irritate my skin.

Curel Itch Relief Lotion

- More like a cream than lotion...very hydrating and lasts a long time.

- Doesn't relieve itching so much.

- Stings a little on open wounds, but goes away in a hot second.

- Builds up quite easily.  I think it's the Shea Butter inside.

- Not sticky at all, very comfortable to use under clothing.

- I would say this is my favourite lotion, but every time I've used this lotion it has lead me to a flare-up.  I don't know if it is because of the lotion, or if it would have happened anyway.  It has definitely given me many calm months before each flare-up, but I am staying away from this lotion for now.

Aqueous Cream

- Another good non-irritating cream.  Just remember to get the SLS-free kind.

- When my skin is good enough to take showers instead of baths, I use this as my soap because it is easy to spread and inexpensive.  Also doesn't make the shower area oily and dangerously slippery like after I use olive oil.

So if you're wondering what moisturizers I recommend, here is my answer.  I use different oils/creams during different stages as my skin heals.  Just because one kind is working extremely well on your skin, no matter how exciting I get that I found something that works...I make sure not to go buy boxes of it because the next moment my skin may react badly to it. In a nutshell though, I prefer using oils (currently coconut oil) when I don't have to go outside, and can stay at home being a shiny, greasy mess.  If I have to go out though, I use the medium-thick creams, like Kenkay's Skin Relief or Curel's Itch Defense Lotion.  

Positive thought of the day:  I have always loved crafts.  I've never had the time to stay home and let my creativity take me somewhere, because of my other priorities like school and being social.  Recently, I've taken my dusty old craft box out, and started on some projects!  Very relaxing and therapeutic!  It's a fun activity where you can express yourself, without having to move around :)